Characterising the information requests of aerospace engineering designers

During product development, engineering designers raise several information requests that make them search through human and documentary sources. This paper reports research to characterise, in detail, these requests for designers working in a major aerospace engineering company. The research found that at a high level, a distinction can be made between requests to acquire information and to process information. The former are raised to access design and domain information. The latter, instead, are formed to define designs. For researchers, this study extends existing knowledge of information requests by characterising key differences in their nature and explaining how they are used in the design process. For practitioners, these findings can be used as a basis to understand the diverseness of information requests and how to channel efforts to support designers in information seeking. In particular, the research indicates that a strategy to support designers should enable the development of engineering communities that share information effectively and the introduction of techniques that facilitate the documentation of information. © 2012 Springer-Verlag London Limited.

Sediment sources and the flood record from Wanghu lake, in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River

A sediment core was collected from the centre of Wanghu Lake, in the Middle Reaches of the Yangtze River. The recent part of the core was dated using a combination of Pb-210 and spheroidal carbonaceous particle (SCP) techniques. Extrapolating this chronology dated the laminated section of the core, between 723 and 881 mm, to the first half of the 18th century and this section was selected for detailed study. The thicknesses of the laminae were measured using reflecting and polarizing microscopes whilst geochemistry was determined by an electron probe. The thickness of the dark layers was found to be positively correlated with titanium concentrations, and negatively correlated with aluminium and potassium concentrations. The thickness of the light layers was found to be negatively correlated with the concentrations of titanium. It is concluded that the dark layers were deposited from the Fushui River, a tributary of the Yangtze River, under periods of normal flow whilst the light Layers were mainly deposited from the Yangtze River itself during flood periods. Documentary evidence for floods occurring in the take catchment corresponded with thick laminations of high titanium concentration. Further, two of the three thickest, light laminations with low titanium concentrations were found to be synchronous with recorded flood dates of the main Yangtze River in its Middle Reaches, but one was synchronous with a local drought. These data suggest that the Lake sediment provides an archive of the relative water levels of the Yangtze and Wanghu including floods of both the main Yangtze River and the local hydrological regime. (c) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Theory and practice in strategic planning for health information systems

Bradshaw, K. & Urquhart, C. (2005). Theory and practice in strategic planning for health information systems. In: D. Wainwright (Ed.), UK Academy for Information Systems 10th conference 2005, 22-24 March 2005 (CD-ROM). Newcastle upon Tyne: Northumbria University.

Acid damage to vegetation following the Laki Fissure eruption in 1783 - an historical review

Grattan, John and Pyatt, Brian. 'Acid damage to vegetation following the laki fissure eruption in 1783 - an historical review' The Science of the Total Environment. 26 August 1993. 151 pgs 241-247

Data Reduction with Rough Sets

R. Jensen, Q. Shen, Data Reduction with Rough Sets, In: Encyclopedia of Data Warehousing and Mining - 2nd Edition, Vol. II, 2008.

The Jesus Chapel in St Paul's Cathedral, London: a reconstruction of its appearance before the Reformation

New, Elizabeth, 'The Jesus Chapel in St Paul's Cathedral, London: a reconstruction of its appearance before the Reformation', Antiquaries Journal (2005) 85, pp.103-124 RAE2008

Theme and variations: Christianity and regional landscapes in early medieval Ireland

This thesis explores the impact of Christianity on the landscape in Ireland from the conversion period to the coming of the Anglo-Normans. The premise is that ecclesiastical and secular settlement formed a cohesive whole which characterised the societal organisation of early medieval Ireland. The matter of the thesis is to isolate some of the agents of cohesion to see was this homogenous or did it vary in different areas. One of these agents was the ownership of land and the thesis undertakes to identify ecclesiastical landholding and examine the manner of settlement on it. A corollary is to explore the contribution of the genealogical link between kin-group, founding saint and territory to the construction of local identities. This necessitated a narrow focus; thus small study areas were chosen, which approximated to early medieval kingdoms in North Louth, Rathdown, Co Dublin and Ross, Co Cork. A multidisciplinary approach was taken using both archaeological and documentary evidence. The thesis found ecclesiastical sites were at the same density through the study areas, but there were considerable regional variations in related secular settlement. Ecclesiastical estates were identified in the three study areas and common settlement patterns were found in two of them. Settlement in all areas indicated the foundation of minor churches by local groups. Ecclesiastical sites were found to be integral to kin-group identity and status, but the manner in which each group negotiated this, was very different. Finally the thesis examined material evidence for a change from diffused to concentrated power in the political organisation of Irish society, a process entwined with developments of the Viking Age. This centralisation of power and associated re-formation of identity was still often mediated through the ecclesiastical sphere but the thesis demonstrates diversity in the materialising of the mediation.